


warm and fuzzy

by Darkfromday



Category: Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
Genre: F/M, Male-Female Friendship, Pre-Relationship, gratitude as a shipping tool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28826052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkfromday/pseuds/Darkfromday
Summary: Fidel was intrigued by Anne from the start.Anne rescued Miki from certain death.How on earth was Fidel meant to show his appreciation for something so momentous?
Relationships: Fidel Camuze & Miki Sauvester, Fidel Camuze/Anne Patriceani





	warm and fuzzy

**Author's Note:**

> the game: Fidel/Miki.  
> me: Fidel/Anne.

He found her on the bridge of the _Goale_.

Anne was... meditating, maybe. Her eyes were closed and she was standing up straight, with her arms outstretched toward the walls. Every few seconds she breathed in, nice and slow, and exhaled so carefully that her long emerald ponytail didn't even twitch. It was like there was an invisible pocket of space around her, or a barrier like the ones Relia sometimes created under great stress—except this was the furthest away from "stressed" that he had ever seen Anne before.

It made sense, though. Rescuing Miki from certain death must have dispelled a lot of Anne's stress—exactly as it had done for Fidel.

 _Still_...

If she was off taking deep breaths on her own, trying to relax, perhaps his gift could help.

"Anne?"

"Oh—Fidel!" She turned around, putting a hand to her chest. Her blue eyes were only wide for a split second; then they warmed as she took him in. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Did I keep you waiting long?"

"Not at all."

"How can I help you?"

"You already have," Fidel began, and then faltered. Blushed. "Ah... I mean..."

He hadn't meant to say that so baldly. But something about Anne always dragged words out of his mouth before he was ready to say them. He just wasn't sure if it was her stern-but-sincere expression, or her intense eyes, or the way she sometimes unconsciously expressed herself with her hands...

_Don't get distracted! She's saying something._

"If this is about Miki, she'll be just fine," Anne reassured. "We got her here in plenty of time. All she needs now is to get some rest while we triangulate the area of Trei'kur that Relia came from. In fact she'll probably be awake and feel good as new as soon as we come back."

The image of Miki back on her feet again, calling him _Fiddly_ and scolding him for leaving her behind for another adventure, made Fidel smile for the first time in hours. His shoulders relaxed as he bowed to his companion. "That's good to hear... so good. Thank you."

"Pardon?"

"You said 'we' got her here in time... but it was really you, wasn't it?"

Anne looked away, out toward the purplish-black endless night outside the ship, the one filled with so many stars. She didn't answer.

Fidel pushed the point anyway. "I heard you speaking with Emmerson, after you diagnosed Miki's injuries. Your priority was keeping Relia away from those men, no matter what happened to the rest of us. He was going to do whatever you thought was best... and you thought it was best to save Miki's life, even though that meant you'd have to reveal some of the secrets you'd been keeping from us."

"...Yes."

"And you did that even after Victor and Fiore and I were so suspicious of you... we were unkind to both of you. And you saved Miki anyway."

Anne turned back toward him. "Relia is a very special girl," she confirmed. "More than you understand right now. But that doesn't mean her life is worth _more_ than Miki's life. Not to me... not anymore."

The words should have stung. They confirmed that Relia was extremely important to Anne and Emmerson and this crew of strangers, frighteningly so. They confirmed that this beautiful young woman was more dedicated to duty than she was to people, whether that meant a friend like Miki or Fiore or... or whatever she might consider a man like Fidel. They implied what Fidel had already feared—that Anne Patriceani was so far above his comprehension as to be nearly unreachable, no matter what small things they might have in common.

But...

 _Even with all the things she knows that I don't know, with all the technological advancements she has at her fingertips... she still saved my best friend. She still cares about us as more than a means to an end_.

"It was really you," Fidel repeated, more strongly. "Emmerson may be your Captain, but it wasn't his choice to make. _Your_ decision saved my friend. You're a wonderful person, Anne. That's why I'm thanking you."

He'd been holding his hands behind his back for a while, rather awkwardly, but now he felt comfortable bringing them forward and revealing the soft, fuzzy toy nestled between them.

Anne's gasp was loud and gratifying.

"A cat!!"

"Just a toy," he said shyly. "I'm not the best at Item Synthesis, especially not Crafting, but... you've always liked cats. I've watched you feed the strays any time we're in Central Resulia. You seem like you're busy, but I thought you might like a, uh... _low-maintenance_ cat of your own."

She hurried forward to grab it out of Fidel's hands. A minute later she was hugging it close to her chest, petting it, making cooing noises like it was the real animal. Her sincere, innocent joy in having such a simple present made Fidel smile again—her happiness alone was worth the hour of muttered swear words and multiple pinprick injuries he'd gotten in the process of making her gift.

"It's not much, Anne... not compared to what you did for Miki and me. But I hope you like it."

"I do, I really do! Thank you, Fidel."

Anne looked up then, and noticed Fidel's soft smile before he could fix his face into a more neutral expression. Her own cheeks flushed pink, but she didn't look away and she didn't let go of the stuffed cat.

"Fidel... you're a wonderful person too, you know."

His own cheeks darkened at the praise. Though he thought he'd had his fill of personal praise thanks to Victor and Relia, there was something different about positive character assessments from Anne. _She's from a wholly different star, after all—she must have met so many people besides me. People better than me, surely._

She kept smiling, as if she could read his mind. Something about the warmth in her eyes made him sure that she thought he was just as wonderful as any other man she may have met among the stars—maybe even more wonderful.

Fidel cleared his throat. "Anne, I—"

"Lieutenant!"

The two of them jumped. An officer of the _Goale_ had appeared abruptly near Anne's shoulder.

"Uh—" Anne didn't _hide_ her present, exactly, but she did tuck it away as she turned to reply. "Yes, what is it?"

"Commander Kenny needs your presence on the bridge—" The young officer turned and bowed in Fidel's direction too. "—along with the rest of your Faykreedian companions."

Fidel quickly translated _Commander Kenny_ to _Emmerson_ in his head, as he'd done every time his brain threatened to shrivel with confusion at all the new titles and terms he'd encountered since arriving on this... ship.

"We'll join him right away," Anne confirmed. As the officer hurried off, she inclined her head in Fidel's direction. "Duty calls."

"Think he's found something?"

"It's very probable. Even so, let's not keep him waiting."

"Right..."

He hated to let the quiet moment go, especially when they had little time to be alone under normal circumstances. But as they walked together toward the bridge and the rest of their party, Anne kept shooting him glances over her new cat and smiling... and Fidel couldn't help but smile back.

Only an inch of space lay between them, warm and full of promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... they could have done _so much more_ for Star Ocean 5.


End file.
